The present exemplary embodiment relates to the field of digital imaging. It finds particular application in connection with the compensation of colorant input values for the effects of other colorants present in an image rendering device, such as a printer. However, methods and systems disclosed herein are applicable to other rendering technologies, such as, for example, color image displays.
Image non-uniformity occurs in the output images of digital imaging devices, such as copiers, scanners, and printers, for a variety of reasons. Even relatively small non-uniformities can give rise to visibly objectionable print defects. In printing systems, physical alignments, component tolerances, wear and component age can influence the uniformity with which colorants, such as inks and toners, are laid down across the surface of print media. Streaks, for example, are one-dimensional image defects that generally run parallel to the process direction in the printed image. They can arise from non-uniform responses of the subsystems of a marking engine and can be constant over time in that they appear in relatively the same location from print to print. Photoreceptor scratches, contamination of the charger wire, non-uniform LED imager output and Raster Output Scanner (ROS) spot size variations, and spatially varying pressure on a bias transfer roll are examples of subsystem defects which can give rise to rendered image streaking in a xerographic marking engine. Bands are also one-dimensional image defects that generally run perpendicular to the process direction in a printed image. They are typically caused by time-varying performance of a marking engine subsystem, such as non-uniform velocity of the photoreceptor drive, out-of-roundness of development rolls, and wobble of the ROS polygon mirror. In a uniform patch of gray, streaks and bands may appear as a variation in the gray level. In general, “gray” refers to the optical density or area coverage value of any single color separation layer, whether the toner is black, cyan, magenta, yellow, or some other color. Other printing technologies (e.g., thermal inkjet and acoustic ink printing) also have artifacts that occur in a regular, predictable manner, in one or both of the marking engine process direction and cross-process direction, and fall within the scope of this discussion.
Imaging devices generally include a processing component which converts color input values for an image into corresponding output values for each of the colorants to be used in rendering the image. For color images, bitmaps, each forming a color separation, are combined. Each color separation may be defined by a number of gray levels. The multiple color separations are combined together at printing to yield the final color print. Commonly, color documents are formed using cyan, magenta, and yellow colorants or cyan, magenta, yellow, and black colorants. A larger number or alternative colorants may also be used.
One-dimensional Tone Reproduction Curves (TRCs) are widely used in digital imaging as a means for compensating for non-linearities introduced by an individual imaging device. In general, the same TRC is used for each pixel in an image. Conventionally, one TRC is used for each of the colorants, i.e., four TRCs in the case of a CMYK process color marking device, a single TRC for a monochrome (single color) device. The TRCs can be periodically refined by printing calibration patches on the imaging device, comparing the measured color of each of the calibration patches with that of respective reference colors, and modifying the TRCs to achieve a closer correlation between the printed calibration patches and reference colors.
Some success has been achieved in the spatial uniformity correction of monochrome images for banding and streaking by appropriate modification to the tone reproduction curve. In the case of streaking, for example, the TRC is modified as a function of position in the cross-process direction. Several TRCs may be developed, and the appropriate TRC selected, depending on a pixel's address. For example, a light streak gives lower print densities as a function of input gray level when printing over the streak than when printing away from the streak and may thus be compensated for by increasing the gray level in the region of the streak.
In color imaging, the correction of spatial non-uniformities, such as streaks has proved more challenging. Colorant-specific, spatially dependent compensating functions can provide substantial improvements in image quality and image consistency. However, the effects of spatial non-uniformities have been found to vary depending on interactions among the colorants. In offset printing, for example, the efficiency with which an ink is absorbed or trapped can be influenced by the presence of another ink laid down earlier and on spatial variations in transfer roll pressures. Related colorant appearance variations associated with print-head-to-print-media spacing variations associated with ink jet technology are also anticipated. In electrophotographic processes, toner pile heights, which generally increase with the number of colorants, may be one source of colorant interaction non-uniformities. Spatially varying (inboard/outboard) pressure on a bias transfer roll may be another source. Thus, TRCs which consider each of the color separations individually do not always adequately address the effects of interactions between two or more colorants.
Printers, copiers and various forms of printing systems have been developed which include two or more marking engines. These systems enable high overall throughput to be achieved by either printing portions of the same document on multiple marking engines or printing the entire document in parallel on multiple marking engines. Such systems are commonly referred to as “tandem engine” printers, “parallel” printers, or “cluster printing” systems which may print color and monochrome pages on different marking engines. However, spatial non-uniformities may be more apparent in documents produced by two or more marking engines.